Mind Spiders

Furies

While I’ve always enjoyed Mind Spiders, they’ve kind of felt like a side project, an idea that hadn’t really grown into a full-fledged band yet. On each of their releases so far, I listen and think, “I like this, but it’s not really my thing.” Then the next album comes along, I give it a spin, and think, “This keeps getting better.”

Within seconds of Furies, their fifth album, it’s clear that Mind Spiders have come into their own. The chrysalis is complete and they’re ready to fly. While that’s a pretty metaphor, the band’s synth-rock vibe is founded in the harsh, icy realms of space instead. The space rock genre as a whole lives is a distant atmosphere. What sets Mind Spiders apart from the genre grinder is their ability to add coziness within those sterile confines. Primary songwriter Mark Ryan’s voice is well-suited to the tone, but it’s Mike Throneberry’s drumming that defines Furies, whether through the progressive marching style of “No Ground” or via the tribal beat of the expansive closer “August” where a warm bass keeps the spacey chills from getting too severe amid a reverb-heavy, mechanic synth.

To really talk about Mind Spiders’ sound progression, the focus should like on the fourth song (out of eight), “Deserve.” The hook is repetitive and drone-like with an ambient synth as it progresses with an almost alien energy. This song is an outlier, at just 1:38 long, but the tone exemplifies the band’s fusion of mechanized music, desolation, hope and the power of a subtle melody.

I’ll admit my own biases first. I like a good peppy, poppy jam, which is why I gravitate more toward the Devo-esque “Never Like That” or the melodic-noisy blend of “Ice Bear” over the latter tracks like “No Ground” and “August.”

While I found Prosthesispleasant enough, it also had me thinking I should focus my review time on other bands the next time around. Furies caught my attention and Mind Spiders are rewarding me for checking it out with their most complete record to date. While the journey through five records is interesting in its own right, this album stands on its own. It’s distant and harsh at times, with an understated human heartbeat beneath the cold mechanicals.